Barghouti’s wife accuses PA of obstructing his release

Fadwa Barghouti writes letter to PA President Abbas urging help in circulating news on her jailed husband Marwan Barghouti.

marwan barghouti REUTERS 311.
(photo credit:REUTERS)

The wife of Fatah-Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti over the weekend accused the
Palestinian Authority and the Fatah leadership of imposing a blackout on news
concerning her husband and efforts to release him from prison.

In a
letter to PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah leaders, Fadwa Barghouti
expressed “regret and pain” over their failure to help in her campaign to secure
the release of her husband. She added that their attitude “raised many
questions and doubts.”

In the letter, she pointed out that Barghouti
holds several positions in the Palestinian leadership, including membership of
the Fatah Central Committee and the Revolutionary Council, as well as the
Palestinian Legislative Council.

“The Fatah Central Committee has not
issued a statement since the abduction of Marwan Barghouti,” his wife wrote in
her letter.

“Nor did the committee hold a meeting to discuss his arrest
and ways of securing his release.”

Fadwa Barghouti also complained that
neither Fatah or the PA had provided funds to support the campaign calling for
the release of Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life terms plus 40 years
for his role in terrorrelated murders during the second intifada.

“The
Popular Campaign for the Release of Marwan Barghouti depends on the work of
volunteers and the backing of friends,” his wife said. “I have been leading the
campaign by myself over the past nine years. The [Fatah] Central Committee did
not initiate any conference or rally or symposium or meeting in solidarity with
him.”

She also accused unnamed Fatah and PA leaders of inciting against
her husband, but did not elaborate.

Barghouti’s wife chastised the PA
leadership for allegedly imposing a blackout on all news concerning her husband.
She said that PA-controlled media outlets, including Palestine TV and the
official Wafa news agency, have refrained from publishing interviews with him or
any other news related to efforts to release him from prison.

Fadwa
Barghouti, who is a lawyer, said that since her husband was arrested, she
visited 52 countries and met with presidents, ministers, politicians, mayors and
representatives of human rights organizations to talk to them about her
husband’s case.

She said that while she was grateful to Abbas for raising
the case of her husband during negotiations with Israel, “this is still not
enough.”

Addressing Abbas, she wrote in the letter: “I preferred to
remain silent in the past nine years and to work alone through the campaign,
with the help of supporters and volunteers. I always avoided talking about this
flagrant negligence and irresponsibility, which has been deliberate by some, and
indeliberate by others.”